This Friday the 13th is lucky for film fans as five new movies land in South African cinemas this week. And they run the full gamut from literary classic (reimagined), to action crime comedy, to unhinged period horror. Take your pick! And if the handful of fresh flicks aren’t to your fancy, there’s also 80s mermaid romcom Splash (with Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah) enjoying a brief Throwback return, and George Michael: The Faith Tour, an IMAX concert experience that dates back to 1988, when Michael was at the height of his popularity.
Starting with the literary classic, Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol promises a fresh take on Charles Dickens’s often-adapted holiday classic. Directed by X, Pearl and MaXXXine’s Ti West of all people, Ebenezer sees Johnny Depp in full-on over-the-top mode to play the miserly title character, a literal Scrooge who is forced to experience visions of his past, present, and future on Christmas Eve courtesy of three Ghosts (Andrea Riseborough, Tramell Tillman, Robert Strange). Clearly leaning in a scarier direction, this all-star effort also stars Rupert Grint, Sam Claflin, Daisy Ridley, and Ian McKellen as Jacob Marley,
Literature-adjacent is psychological thriller A Talent for Murder, which blurs the lines between reality and fiction. Based on Joanna Murray-Smith’s 2014 play Switzerland (and adapted by the playwright herself), A Talent for Murder reimagines the last days of author Patricia Highsmith’s life, when a young literary editor travels from New York to Switzerland to convince the difficult writer to pen one more book about sociopath Tom Ripley. Highsmith agrees, with a chilling price. Starring Helen Mirren, Alden Ehrenreich, and House of the Dragon’s Olivia Cooke.
Period horror thriller Victorian Psycho is recommended for adventurous viewers who relish the unexpected, have a wicked sense of humour, and demonstrate a strong stomach. It Follows and Longlegs star Maika Monroe plays an eccentric 19th Century governess whose post at a remote gothic manor coincides with inexplicable disappearances. Turns out she might just be a little bit psychopathic. Thomasin McKenzie, Ruth Wilson and Jason Isaacs also star in this novel adaptation, which premiered at Cannes.
Far more serious, and topical, is legal drama Prima Facie. Playwright Suzie Miller adapts her own one-woman stage production for the big screen, where Wicked’s Cynthia Erivo plays brilliant London barrister Tessa Ensler, who is especially successful in defending high-profile men accused of sexual assault. Everything changes, though, when Tessa is raped by a colleague, and finds her attempts at justice thwarted by the legal system she has long upheld, shaking her identity to its core.
At first glance, How to Rob a Bank sounds pretty generic for an action crime comedy. It has a pretty cool cast, with Nicholas Hoult, Zoë Kravitz, and Tati Gabrielle – plus John C. Reilly and Christian Slater, but its premise sounds like any Prime Video actioner: A crew of bank robbers uses social media to share their heists, amassing a fan following as law enforcement zeroes in. What makes How to Rob a Bank stand out is that it’s directed by David Leitch, who also made the likes of Deadpool 2, Bullet Train and The Fall Guy, so the action should be appreciably practical and intense.